








> » 






<«. 



^^ 












- ^ 




SPEECH 



IR. REYERDY JORNSOI, OF MARYLAND, 



THE BILL MAKING FURTHER APPROPRIATION TO BRING THE 
EXISTING WAR TO AN HONORABLE CONCLUSION, 



THE THREE MILLION BILL. 



Deliveked in the Senate of the United States, February 6, 1847. 



Mr. REVERDY JOHNSON then rose and addressed the Senate to the 
following effect : 

Mr, President : The question before the Senate is upon the amend- 
iTient proposed by the Senator from Michigan, (Mr. Cass,) as a substitute 
for that offered by the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Berrien) to the bill 
which came from the Committee on Foreign Relations. The single in- 
quiry, then, perhaps, is as to the propriety of that amendment. But in 
what I am about to say on this occasion — probably the only one on which 
I shall trouble the Senate on this subject — it is my purpose to speak on 
another question growing out of the proposition of the committee itself. 
And I feel, Mr. President, that I shall require the indulgence of the Senate 
in what I am about to say, both for what I may say, and for the manner in 
which I may present it, because I find myself most unexpectedly thrown 
into this debate. Nothing was further from my purpose, in this stage 
of the debate at least, when the Senator from Georgia concluded his ad- 
mirable speech of yesterday; for, in my simplicity, Mr. President, I took 
it for granted that the amendment suggested by the honorable Senator 
from Michigan would not be permitted by him to go to a vote, without his 
saying a single word in its support. It is upon its face clearly important. 
It is not so very obviously connected with the bill itself, which he seeks to 
amend by it ; and it is, without any previous notice, suddenly started upon 
the consideration of the Senate — apparently without even consultation 
with his political friends. It embraces, sir, a high and momentous prin- 
ciple of public policy, not only in the present condition of the country, 
but in any similar condition in which it may be hereafter placed. Under 
these impressions, seeing that the vote was about to be taken, even before the 
amendment itself was printed, I inquired of my friend, the Senator from 
Michigan, whether it was not his purpose to state, however succintly, the 
grounds on which he had offered it. I was answered— if I heard the Sena- 
tor correctly — that it was not his intention to do so. I could not have been 
more surprised, Mr. President, if I had found that Santa Ana had proved 
true to the engagements, express or imphed, under which he was permit- 
ted to enter Mexico, and head Che troops now in battle-array against us ! 
I was certainly astonished at the answer, but concluded that a night's re- 
flection would satisfy the honorable Senator that it was no less due to the 

Towers, prim, opposite Intelligencer office. 






country and the Senate, than to his own distinguished reputation, that 
such a proposition should be maintained with all the abiliiy he could com- 
mand ; and, in that belief, I moved the adjournment. But I have takerr 
nothing by my motion. The honorable Senator is as silent as the grave-. 
Why so? Has the proposition been offered without due reflection ? If it 
has, ought it not to be withdrawn? Has it been carefully considered? 
Does it meet with the concurrence of his political friends? Does it present 
the sentiments of the President of the United States? If so, it is due to 
all that it should be maintained with all the force which that distinguished 
statesman — the Senator from Michigan — is known to possess. And, upon 
this side of the chamber, Mr. President, I think we have a right respectfully 
to ask the aid of lights which we are not able, of ourselves, to furnish. 
Let the effulgent intellect of the honorable Senator shine upon this proposi. 
tion ! Let the darkness of our minds be illumined, so that we may be 
able to see it in its true intrinsic excellence ! I do not yet despair, although 
the prospect is exceedingly discouraging. The American people have a 
right to expect it — the well-known reputation of the distinguished Sen- 
ator, at home and abroad, invokes it. Public feeling will not, and should 
not, be satisfied without it. His high character — his long experience — 
his clear judgment — his nice sense of honor, public and private, cannot 
fail to make the world solicitous for the grounds on which he places this 
amendment. And I do trust that, although a night's reflection has not 
brought the Senator on the floor as yet, that we shall find him in his proper 
place on Monday next. 

What is the proposition ? In order to understand it, it is necessary to see 
what the bill is to which it is proposed as an amendment. The President of 
the United States,firstin secret session, and afterwards in open session, during 
the last winter, recommended an appropriation o*" two millions of dollars to 
enable him to negotiate a peace with Mexico. He reiterates that recommen- 
dation in his annual message at the commencement of the present session. 
The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, speaking the sense 
of the committee of course, reports a bill appropriating not two, but three 
millions, and he accompanies it with a speech, to which, by and by, 
I shall pay my respects. What is this bill? That three millions of dol- 
lars are appropriated for the purposeof defraying any extraordinary expense 
which may be incurred, in order to bring the existing war with Mexico to 
a speedy and honorable conclusion. The Senator from Georgia proposed 
to append a proviso, on which it is not my purpose, in this connexion, to 
say anything. Then comes the amendment of the Senator from Michigan; 
and what is it? It is that the appropriation should be passed in the first 
place, and as one of the reasons of its being passed, it states the character 
of the war in which we are engaged with reference to its causes, it states, 
as another reason, the terms on which the termination of the war is to be 
concluded, as regards the extent of any indemnity which the United States 
have a right to demand, and without which the war is to go on intermina- 
bly ; and, as a third reason, that in order to begin to conclude if, the Pre- 
sident of the United States must first consider and decide the nature and 
extent of such indemnity. It is in relation to the first of these grounds 
that I ask my friend from Michigan most respectfully to state, at his own 
good pleasure, why it is necessary, in a bill appropriating three millions of 
dollars to terminate by an honorable treaty the war in which we are en- 



gaged, to set forth what the character of the war is ? Has he any misgiv-' 
ings upon that subject? Does he apprehend that his own opinion will not' 
be the opinions of the people of the United States? Does he fear that the 
civilized world may come to a diiferent conclusion in reference to the char- 
acter of this war? I should be inclined to think so. Mr. President, we are 
presenting an extraordinary spectacle. The war in which we are engaged, 
so far as the Congress of the United States are concerned in its declaration, 
was delared on the 13th of May last. In the preamble of the law declar- 
ing it, it was stated that it had been brought about by an unauthorized 
act of hostility on the part of Mexico ; very many of the Senators believed" 
that that assertion was unfounded in fact, and were compelled to vote — 
such of them as did vote — for the bill with that declaration, only from the 
patriotic impulses which they were unable to restrain, that in any and every 
condition of things the honor of the United States must be vindicated, our 
troops protected, and our arms saved from defeat. I was not one of those who 
differed as to the fact alleged in the preamble. I staled then the grounds 
of that opinion. It is unnecessary to reiterate them now. But there were 
high and patriotic spirits in this body — men who would do honor to any 
land — whose whole feelings are inseperably connected with the honor of 
the country, who, believing differently, and still willing to stand by the 
country, proposed to strike out that part of the bill. But their proposition, 
was voted down. That ought to have satisfied the Senators on the other 
side. But it seems it did not. On each and every occasion since, in which 
a tolerable pretext offered itself for resorting to the same thing, the effort has 
been made. Even in a resolution of thanks to the gallant men who have 
covered the nation with glory, this clause was suffered to find its way! 
And many Senators on the other side, including the Senator from Michi- 
gan, voted to retain the clause. Now, the Senator from Michigan insists on 
having'the same thing incorporated into this bill. He must again revive 
a declaration in which many of his brother Senators do not unite; in order, 
apparently — though such certainly cannot be his purpose — to drive them 
to vote against the bill, or again compel them to vote a war to be just, wdiich 
in their conciencies they believe was illegally brought upon the country. 
Now, sir, I could very readily understand why a proposition like this was 
proposed to be incorporated into this bill if it were germain to the matter. 
But is the character of the peace which we are to have — are the objects 
which we seek to attain, to be in any manner affected by the causes which 
led to the war? This bill is proposed in good faith, no doubt, by the Pre- 
sident of the United Slates, and with equal good faith by the Committee 
who have reported it. It means peace. It desires peace. It seeks to avoid 
all the obstacles to the attainment of that end. Now I submit that the 
Senator from Michigan cannot but see, when he considers the object of the 
bill, that just as he provokes Mexico — just as he insults the public opinion 
of Mexico, by declaring her to be an aggressor without cause — just in the 
the same proportion does he increase the impediments to the attainment of 
the end which the bill was designed to accomplish — the speedy and suc- 
cessful termination of the war. The proposition, therefore, has nothing to 
do with the bill itself in which it is proposed to be incorporated, unless it 
be to defeat it. The Senator from Michigan, however, if I may judge of 
his present opinion from the phraseology which he has adopted in his 
amendment, is now apparently anxious to place the justice of this war, not 



on the facts which the country may examine and decide for themselves, 
but simply on the fact that the Congress of the United States, by the act 
of the 13th of May, have declared the war to be just. Let me read his 
amendment. It is this : 

Strike out all after the word "provided," and insert: "And it is hereby declared to be the true in- 
tent and meaning of Congress, in making this appropriation, that, as by the act ol the Republic 
of Mexico, a state of war exists between that Government and the United States, agreeably to 
the declaration made by this Congress, on the \2th day of May last." 

It is the declaration, therefore, made in the act of I3tli of May that 
makes the war a just one on our pan ! The fact itself is made to depend, 
by the amendment of the Senator, exclusively on that simple declaration ! 
Well, then comes his " therefore." What I have read is the whole pre- 
amble to the amendment. 

" Therefore the interest and honor of this country require that the said war be vigorously pro- 
secuted to a successful issue." 

I suppose it is not necessary to call one from the dead to tell us that. A 
nation engaged in a war — ^just or unjust — is in a condition in which every 
consideration demands that it should be brought to a successful and honor- 
able termination. That is not then the object of the Senator — that suc- 
cessful and honorable termination of the war is connected with another 
sentiment of the Senator from Michigan — that a reasonable indemnity 
should be obtained from Mexico for the wrongs which she has committed 
towards the government and citizens of the United States. Well, what is 
the indemnity? Why, I understand the President of the United States to 
say, in his message, that the war having been commenced by Mexico, it 
has been carried into the enemy's country, and will be vigorously prosecuted 
there, with a view of obtaining an honorable peace, and thereby securing 
ample indemnity for the expenses of the war and the claims of our citi- 
zens. Now, I am sure that the Senator from Michigan is not prepared to 
say that the President, in that part of his message, has claimed anything 
imreasonable. Then the reasonable indemnity for which the Senator from 
Michigan suppose^ that the war should be prosecuted, is full indemnity for 
all the expenses of the war, and full indemnity for all that the government 
of Mexico owes to citizens of the United States. How is this to be at- 
tained? One would suppose, Mr. President, from reading that part of the 
amendment to which I have called the attention of the Senate, that it was 
to be effected by a vigorous and successful prosecution of the war. But 
this is not proposed for the purpose of prosecuting (he war vigorously. We 
have given full assurance on both sides of the chamber of our readiness to 
aid in such a prosecution of the war. It is a libel on the patriotism of the 
Senate to suppose that any member, on either side of it, has for a moment 
hesitated to place at the disposal of the Executive, everything in money 
and in men which he wanted in order to bring the war to a speedy and 
successful termination. We have voted men without limit. We have voted 
for the description of troops which he asked, and voted many of us, against 
the opinions of some of the President's particular friends. We are voting 
iQoney to the whole extent of his demand. We are willing to go further. 
Come when he may, asking for more money or more men, and if he give 
us reasonable evidence that they are necessary to bring the war to a speedy 
and successful termination, he will find as ready a spirit of acquiescence 
on this as on the other side of the chamber. But what is this bill ? Does 



this bill look to a successful terminalion of the contest by a vigorous prosecu- 
tion of the war? Why, if it pass — if I may be permitted to use the expres- 
sion — it rather shows the " white feather !" It fears — it is founded on the 
apprehension — that no such peace as we are willing to obtain can be procu- 
red by means alone of a vigorous prosecution of the war. Its object is not ta 
conquer a peace, but to buy a peace ! And, Mr. President, the Chairman 
of the Committee of Foreign Relations, in his speech as reported, ^nd as I 
understood him to say correctly reported — stated, perhaps inadvertently, 
why it is that it is so absolutely important now, that this bill should meet 
the sanction of Congress. I think he has done so inadvertently; because 
he has, I am inclined to suppose, been affording, in what I am about to 
read from him, " aid and comfort" to the enemy ; and I beg him to take 
care, if he is in earnest in it, that he does not meet with presidential or or- 
ganic censure. After speaking of the debility of Mexico — her distress — 
her conquered towns and provinces — her agitation — her factions — the hon- 
orable Senator tells us — (the truth will come out when the heart is full of 
it — and we may well suppose that the thought was suggested to him in 
some anxious colloquy with the manager of our finances !) 

" ON OUR PART, we BEGIN TO FEEL THAT WE ARE ENGAGED IN AN EN- 
PENSIVE WAR— a war attended BY A GREAT SACRIFICE OF LIFE, AND ONE 
CALCULATED TO EXHAUST, TO A GREAT EXTENT, THE MEANS OF THIS 
GOVERNMENT, AND IF CONTINUED FOR A GREAT WHILE LONGER, MUST 
RESULT IN IMPOSING HEAVY BURDENS UPON OUR PEOPLE." 

That is the source of solicitude, and that no doubt is the fact. The only 
point in which the Senator is mistaken is that we have "just" begun to 
" feel " this. It was felt some time since ! Well, now, the Senator from 
Michigan says, that being engaged in a war justly commenced it is our duty 
vigorously lo prosecute it, and to pass a bill appropriating three millions 
of dollars to buy a. peace ! I want him to show the connection between the 
object and the means of accomplishing the object, when he hereafter shall 
think proper to address the Senate. The Senator from Arkansas, the hon- 
orable Chairman of the Committee of Foreign Relations says, we want 
peace — our treasury, like the treasury of Mexico, is exhausted — our peo- 
ple like the people of Mexico, are about to be mulcted in heavy assess- 
ments — our means from any and every quarter from which they can be 
collected aie about to be expended for the necessary support of this war — 
as burdens, almost intolerable, threaten us in the prosecution of the war, we 
want peace — peace we will have — but we will have it, he says, through this 
bill, by buying it ! Here is an evident contradiction — an hostility — as to 
the grounds upon which this bill is maintained between the two distin- 
guished Senators to whom I have referred. One is for obtaining a suc- 
cessful peace by a vigorous prosecution of the war — the other is for obtain- 
ing a successful peace by purchasing it ! Let us put the proposed amend- 
ment, of the Senator from Michigan as a preamble to the bill and see how 
it reads : " Whereas, and it is hereby declared, to be the true intent and 
meaning of Congress in making this appropriation, that as by the act of 
the Republic ofMexico, a state of war exists between that government 
and the United States, agreeably to a declaration made by this Congress 
on the I3th of May last, therefore the interest and honor of this country 
require that the said war be vigorously prosecuted to a successful issue^ 
until a reasoTiable indemnity shall be obtained from Mexico for the wrongs 



she has committed wpon our government and citizens of the United 
States, Therefore, be it enacted, that we give three millions of money to 
buy a successful issue and a reasonable indemnity." [A laugh.] Why, 
what a lame and impotent conclusion is here, Mr. President! Sword in 
hand the Senator from Michigan marches up to the foe, threatens to exter- 
minate him, but then suddenly stops and says, "My dear sir, you may have 
my sword if you take my purse, and let us stand quits !" Would that be 
an honorable and vigorous prosecution of a private personal contest? 
Wowld that be a glorious termination ofxil There could be but one an- 
swer; and what would be dishonorable as between individuals, is equally 
dishonorable as between nations. And I say to the Senator from Michi- 
gan, in all good faith, if he means — as I am sure he does mean what he 
says — that this war can only be honorably terminated by its vigorous pro- 
secution, he owes it to himself to vote against this bill. That would be 
the predicament in which he would stand if the bill were allowed to utter 
its own solitary voice, without the carefully prepared commentary of the 
Senator from virkansas. But it does not stand by itself. It is accompanied 
by this official commentary; and what story does that tell us? After in- 
dulging himself in the hope that perhaps the vote on the bill would be 
unanimous — a hope founded on the proceedings of last session — that Sen- 
ator tells us that we have reduced impoverished Mexico to extremities ; and 
then says : 

" We had kept our army out of the country which was claimed by us for a considereble time 
before the commencement of the war, for the express purpose of securing peace by showing, what 
was felt, a forbearance and a disposition to avoid a hostile collision. In making this peace, after 
all that has occurred, the United States, of course, would expect to receive, to some extent at 
least, indemnity for the expenses of the war, and they would expect also the payment of the 
claims held by our citizens against the Republic of Mexico ; and this indemnity, for these pur- 
poses, in consequence of her inability to give any other, would be expected in the shape of a 
cession of territory. He was not authorized to state precisely what territory this government 
would require for this indemnity, and for the payment of these claims ; hut he supposed that no 
Senator irould think they are to get less than New Mexico and Upper California. He did 
not suppose that a treaty of peace with less than this would ever pass this body." 

That is, Mr. President, we are to take as much as we can, but the honora- 
ble Senator thinks that that is the least that could be accepted ! Then the 
inquiry suggests itself to him — and no doubt it was the subject of delib- 
erate consideration —may there not be some difficulty in getting a treaty ? 
Mexico is distracted — the faction that is in the ascendant to-day is down 
to-morrow ! The difficulty stared the committee in the face, and the dis- 
tinguished Senator, the chairman of the committee rises to meet it. How? 
The Senator had told them : 

" Our arms had triumphed everywhere. We had got possession of a large portion of Mexico. 
We had possession of some of her seaports, and held others blockaded. We were powerful, 
and in a condition to extend our conquests." 

Why, they will take the whole of Mexico, if she were not careful, and 
we will, mayhap, again hear on that side of the chamber, what so fre- 
quently came from the Senator from Michigan on a former occasion — 
"The whole or none !" 

Mr. Cass. Oh ! only 54 deg. 40 min. 

Mr. Johnson. I understand — nothing short of that. 

Mr. Cass. What we could get ! 

Mr. Johnson. Yes, and (hat is what must satisfy us in this instance — 
just what we can get, and no more. Why, already we cannot stand it, for 



it is hurting as confoundedly, says the Senator from Arkansas ; " We begin 
to feel that wo are engaged in an expensive war — a war aUended by a 
GREAT SACRIFICE OF LIFE, and onc Calculated to exhaust to a great ex- 
tent the means of our government, and if continued for a great while longer, 

MUST RESULT IN IMPOSING HEAVy BURDENS UPON OUR PEOPLE." But 

the Senator proceeds : 

" The intelligence possessed by the President gave them reason to believe, that by a certain 
advance in money, to be made to them in their exhausted and impoverished condition, to pay 
off their army and other expenses, they would be willing and able to make peace, and cede, 
for the objects specitied, that portion of the comitry he had named." 

Here is the picture, Mr. President, drawn to the life, showing what the 
object of this bill is ! Before I proceed, let us go a little beyond it and 
behind it. The President of the United States, in his annual message, 
when justifying the permission which he had authorized to be given to 
Santa Ana to return to Mexico, tells us, among other things, that on the day 
that we declared the war, as it is said — the 13th May — on that very day he 
gave the order, or caused the order to be given, that Santa Ana might 
be permitted to return to Mexico. (He took special care though not to 
mention to us that fact ! But on that day he gave the order.) 

Mr. Calhoun here (in his seat) said : Is the Senater certain of this. 

Mr. Johnson. I cannot be mistaken about it. The President shall 
speak for himself. In his message of December last, he says : 

" In view of these facts and circumstances it was, that, when orders were issued to the com- 
mander of our naval forces in the Gulf, on the 13th day of May last, the day on which the exist- 
ence of the war had been recognized by Congress, to place the coasts of Mexico under blockade^ 
he was directed not to obstruct the passage of Santa Ana to Mexico, should he attempt to return.'. 

Now what were the circumstances under which he gave the order and 
the reasons which, in his opinion, from these circumstances justified it? 
He tells us, in a preceding part of the same message, relating to the same 
subject : 

" Our object was the restoration of peace ; and with that view, no reason was perceived why we 

should take part with Parades, and aid him, by means of our blockade, in preventing the return 

- of his rival to Mexico. On the contrary, it was believed that the intestine divisions which 

OKDINAUY SA&ACITY COULD NOT BUT ANTICIPATE AS THE FRUIT OF SANNA ANA's RETURN TO MEXI- 
CO, AND HIS CONTEST WITH PaRADES, MIGHT STRONGLY TEND TO PRODUCE a disposition with hotk 

parties to restore and preserve peace with the United States." 

The INTESTINE DIVISIONS iu which he might involve Mexico — an 
avowal upon its face that the controlling reason for this extraordinary con- 
duct was to bring peace to the United States — to obtain an honorable and 
successful termination of die war by sending into the country of our ene- 
my a man to produce intestine difficulty — to overturn the government — 
not by our arms and our valor, but through the instrumentality of one 
whose tyranny had compelled the people to exile him — by the hope that 
his return would be attended with intestine difficulty — by revolution, in- 
volving Mexico in civil war — mvolving it in still greater embarrassments 
than that created by the war with us, and so to induce them to enter into 
a peace, which, if united, we might not be able to conquer! 

Well, Santa Ana goes, accompanied by a troop of officers — he passes 
our blockade by order of the President of the United States. The moment 
he got there, he is found giving " aid and comfort" to the enemy ; and he is 
enabled to do so by this act of our own President. He puts down all 
•opposition. The country apparently rises as one man at his bidding. All 



8 

the resources of the nation are put under his command. The dying hopes 
of the people are revived, all by virtue of this act of the President of the 
United Slates — and Santa Ana now stands the chosen leader, and most ap- 
proved soldier that Mexico for years has boasted, at the head of thirty or 
forty thousand men. He leads the country. His will, by the very physi- 
cal force which he is able to wield, must be the will of the nation. What 
the will of the nation in fact is — how firm and resolved their determination 
to fight to the last extremity — to die in the last ditch — no Senator can doubt, 
who heard on another and recent occasion, what was read by the Senator 
from New York, (Mr. Dix,) from journals published in that country. 
There Santa Ana is. There we have not the means as yet to meet him. 
In May last, fifty thousand men — all he asked — were placed at the com- 
mand of the President of the United States. He calls out but a trifling 
quota. Up to November last, his War Secretary writes that they want no 
more. Five days afterwards ten additional regiments were called into the 
field, and as soon as we meet here, ten additional regiments of regular troops 
are demanded. Now, what is to be done? My friend, the Senator from 
Arkansas, says that there may be difficulties in the way of effecting peace — 
that Mexico may be unwilling to give up any territory — territory won by 
their valor, and portions of it literally mired by their blood. But there is, says 
he, one way of accomplishing it. The army is in the ascendant. Santa Ana 
IS at its head. If the army is paid, they may he willing and they may be 
able to make a peace. Willing — how ? Santa Ana being the President 
of the republic, by force of that army, may put down the opposition. Why 
buy up the enemy then, is said to be the true policy — pay this chosen lea- 
der of Mexico the price that he demands ! You may get such a peace as 
the Senator says is indicated — a ?peace indemnifying the United States 
for the expense of this war, and the debt due to our citizens by the gov- 
ernment of Mexico, by a cession of territory, Upper CaUfornia and New 
Mexico. Now, Mr. President, let me put it to the Senator from Arkansas, 
what would he say if Mexico should pass such a law as this, appropriating 
three millions to buy a peace with the United States — staling upon its face or 
by its official commentary, that they expected to accomplish it, by buying off 
Zachary Taylor and his troops? Would not he and the whole nation be 
in a fury of indignation at such an attempt to tamper with our army? 
Peace cannot be made, says the Senator, in the present state of things — the 
difficulties are insuperable— the character of the peace which we demand,and 
which alone we will take, renders those obstacles entirely insuperable — for 
it cannot be made but by a dismemberment of the territory of the enemy. 
But there is one way to accomplish it. We have intelligence from Mexi- 
co, satisfactory to the committee — communicated by the President to Con- 
gress — that such a peace can be obtained. What, then, is the intelligence 
which warrants this particular bill and this accompanying commentary ? In- 
telligence that the President of the United States can buy up this army — 
he can in that way put an end to this war, ai^d get as much territory as 
he wants. Now, \ ask my honorable friend, the Senator from Michigan, 
when he comes to reply — for I know he will, notwithstanding his present 
misgivings— I ask him, as a soldier, full of the soldier's pride ; I ask him 
as a statesman, imbued with a statesman's elevated feeling, if he would con- 
sider a peace obtained in that way, an honorable peace ; or if he would re- 
gard it as a peace obtained by a "vigorous prosecution" of this war? Now, 



one thing cannot but have suggested itself to the Senate, and that is, howife 
happened ihat when in the month of July last — I think it was July — [A 
Senator. August.] Well, then, when in the month of August last, 
Santa Ana, having his orders no doubt communicated to him, or else he 
would not have run the risk of capture, that he might go into Mexico, the 
President came to us with a message in secret session, and afterwards in 
public, asking us to give him two millions of money to enable him to nego- 
tiate a treaty, the honorable Senator from Arkansas — who is supposed, neces- 
sarily, to have consulted the Executive on this subject, now proposes three 
millions ? Has Santa Ana raised his demands ? He had not as much of an 
army in August as he has now. The President had more confidence in him 
in August than now — confident in his consciousness, not that it would keep 
him straight, but that it might keep him from going wrong. Why, 1 ask 
the Senator — when he comes to close this debate, as I presume he will — 
when two millions were supposed to have been sufficient in August last, 
three millions are now indispensable ? Are these three millions to be con- 
sidered as part of the expenses of the war? 

[Mr. Sevier. Yes, part of it.] 

There are two armies in the field — the American and the Mexican ; and 
so it seems we are willing, out of the treasury of the United States, to pay 
the expenses of both, provided Santa Ana thinks proper to cede to the Uni- 
ted States at least New Mexico and Upper California ! If he does not do 
it in a short time, as the Senator intimates, and permits this war to go on, 
we will want a great deal more — perhaps the whole of Mexico. It ap- 
pears to me to be a most extraordinary proposition. We are to make peace 
with Mexico, who, by the confession of the Senator, is herself trodden down 
by contending factions — who is not free — who numbers amongst her ty- 
rants this very Santa Ana — who looks to the army with the dread which the 
past course of the army is well calculated to inspire ; we are to make peace 
with this poor, down-trodden, impoverished people, who have been reduced 
to such an abject and helpless condition by this very army, and this very 
leader, by pouring gifts into the hands of their tyrants, and then transferring 
them, in spite of themselves, from the institutions in which they have been 
bred — from the associations in which they have been brought up, and which 
they value, into an integral portion of the United States, to be subject to 
our laws and government ! The principle is wrong, Mr. President. I 
know that the Senator from Arkansas and those who agree with him, en- 
tertain a different view of this proposition, and, of course, entertain it on 
high and elevated grounds. That, it is not for me to doubt. But I have a 
right to my own opinion. Standing here then as an American Senator, I 
declare, with all the emphasis and solemnity due to the occasion, that this 
project of terminating the war by dismembering a sister republic is so re- 
volting to my moral sense, to all my notions of propriety, honor, and jus- 
tice, that I would see my arms sink palsied by my side, rather than agree 
to it ! There is a principle pervading the amendment of the Senator from 
Michigan, which is to me even more alarming. I understand it to be this : 
Congress having declared this war by the act of the 13th May, it is the duty 
of the United States to prosecute it to a speedy and successful termination ; 
and that only is to be done by obtaining a reasonable indemnity, and that 
the management of it rests exclusively with the President of the United 
States ! See where this doctrine leads. Now, I do not say that this war 



10 

was brought on by any act of ihe President of the United States, with which 
Mexico had a right to find fault. Others may think it was. I am by no 
means sure that a majority of the people of the Uniied Slates, do not think 
so. I am not also free from doubt, but that that is the light in which the 
civilized world now regards it. The President brings on the war — he 
brings on a state of hostilities, to use a terra used upon a former occasion 
by the Senator from South Carolina, farthest from me, (Mr. Calhoun.) 
It involves the Congress of the United Stares in a direct responsibility, by 
following that state of hostilities, by a declaration of war. That was done 
here. The Senator from South Carolina refused to vote — the only Senator 
who refused. (A Whig Senator. Not the only Senator.) I am aware of, 
that. I intended to say the only Senator on the other side. He refused to 
vote. He and others thought, then, that there was not evidence to satisfy him 
that the war was brought about by the act of Mexico. Our army is in 
peril. The national honor is involved. The glory of our flag is hazarded. 
It must be saved at all and every risk. We pass by the alleged illegal act 
of the President We instantaneously leap to the conclusion, that we must 
declare the war in order (o save the national honor. We gave the declaration 
to (he world. Now the waris upon us. What says the Senator from Michi- 
gan ? Congress has just the power to declare the war, but over its manage- 
ment, over its termination, over the terms of its termination, the powers of 
Congress are impotent ! The war must go on until a treaty is negotiated 
satisfactory to the President, and is submitted by him to the Senate for ratifi- 
cation. If he refuses to treat — if he refuses to listen to terms — if imbued 
with the lust of dominion which seems to have seized up on so many in the 
Uniied States to the utter bewilderment of judgment, he is resolved to get 
the territories of Mexico, it is his right to go on until he brings Mexico into 
a condition in which, sooner or later, she must be if the war go on, and 
when we can be indemnified only by a cession of the whole ! What 
•are we to do ? Can we not even declare our opinions ? Can we not give 
an opinion which, if the President of the United States thinks proper to 
resist, would involve him in (he danger of a just impeachment? I am not 
Jiere arguing Mr. President, that the treaty- making power is not exclusively 
in the President and the Senate — that the House have anything to do either 
with the initiatory or final step ; but I am here to maintain that, looking to 
the character of the government — looking to the distribution of powers 
amongst the several departments of the government — looking to the 
die reason which causes the whole power of declaring war to be vested in 
Oongress by the Constitution — Congress must, accoi-ding to the spirit of 
that instrument, have some right to say how it is to be conducted, and 
when it is to be terminated. And above all, when it is announced as one of 
the objects of this war, that territory is to be acquired, and that to an extent 
which, according to the statement of the President himself in this message, 
is equal to the whole of the territory embraced in the thirteen original 
States of this Union, the Congress of the United States have a right to be 
heard. The inevitable result of a different doctrine would be this — that 
<he President may bring us to a state of hostilities, which will compel us to 
declare war, and then he can go on to prosecute it, until he is tired of his 
defeats or his triumphs. Now I am not entirely certain whether my recol- 
lection serves me right — some Senator on the floor, particularly the honor- 
able Senator from South Carolina, (Mr.^CALHOUN,) who was a member of 



11 

the House at the time, can no doubt set me right — but I am under the 
impression that in the declaration of war in 1812, the causes of the war and 
the objects of the war was stated in the bill itself — 

Mr. Calhoun. In the accompanying report. 

Mr. Johnson. In the report, then, which accompanied the bill, as the 
honorable Senator informs me. But we have no report accompanying 
this with such statements. That was not permitted. The iron will of a ma- 
jority, as patriotic, I admit, as we are, deemed it proper to rush the declara- 
tion of war through without even a moment's time to deliberate. Now, I 
apprehend, Mr. President, I am not mistaken when I say, that if, upon the 
13ih of May, the President of the United States himself had sent us a mes- 
sage containing what is contained in the speech of the honorable Senator 
from Arkansas — or if the Connniitee on Foreign Relations had accompanied 
the act of the ISih May, with a report containing what is contained in that 
speech, that the object of carrying on this war was to get territory, not 
to vindicate the national rights — not to drive off supposed or alleged invaders 
of our soil — not to protect our sister Slate of Texas, one of the States of the 
Union, and her territories — but, in order to pay our own citizens the debts 
due them by Mexico, which Mexico was unable, because of her poverty, 
to pay, and in order to obtain New Mexico and Califcrnia — that law could 
not have passed this body in that shape, and would not have passed ,Mr. 
President, for reasons so forcibly suggested by my friend who sits near me, 
the Senator from Georgia, (Mr. Berrien.) No man was so blind then — 
no man is so absolutely blind now — as not to see that the questions (o 
arise on the admission of any new territory into the United States, are 
questions likely to cause this Union to totter to its very foundations. We 
have seen some indications of the feelings of the South on this subject, in 
the language of the learned Senator to whom I allude. We have seen, if 
possible, still more excitement manifested in a resolution proposed this 
morning by the Senator from Alabama, (Mr. Bagby.) What have we wit- 
nessed? One of the greatest States of this Union — the Stale of New York 
— whose voice will be potential, in all human probability, in all our sub- 
sequent political conflicts, through one of her representatives on this floor 
presented to this body resolutions which speak the fixed and abiding opinions 
of that Slate upon this subject. Go beyond the resolutions ; look at the 
manner in which they were passed. By consulting the records of the Le- 
gislature of that State we will see that there were but nine dissenting voices. 

Mr. Bagby here asked for a reading of the resolutions. 

Mr. Johnson. I intend to call for the reading of them in a moment. 
What takes place in the coterminous and almost equally powerful State of 
Pennsylvania? That State has passed resolutions of the same import, and 
by a voice equally loud and decided. The Legislature of Ohio in one of 
its branches, has proclaimed, in an equally unanimous voice, almost the 
same declaration ; and if I am not incorrectly informed, one of the branches 
of the Legislature of the State of Michigan, which the honorable Senator 
who has moved the amendment so ably represents, has announced the same 
to be her will. Now what is this will ? The resolution of New York speaks 
the sense of all ; and I stop a moment until, the Clerk reads it. 

[Here the Clerk read the joint resolutions of the Legislature of New 
York, which sets forth " that no peace with Mexico can be regarded as 
honorable to ihe United States, which shall not secure full indemnity for 



12 

the aggressions committed upon the rights of this country and its citizens, 
and that if any territory is hereafter acquired or annexed, the act by whicix 
it is acquired or annexed should contain an unalterable fundamental article 
or provision, whereby slavery or involuntary servitude shall be forever 
excluded,"] 

The Senator from Alabama, (Mr. Johnson continued,) at once — for I 
suppose he did not know of the existence of the resolutions till he heard 
them read — 

Mr. Bagby. I never dreamed of such a thing. 

Mr. Johnson. The honorable Senator instinctively at once — and his 
people will honor him for it — flies to the rescue of their institutions, which 
he supposes to be unconstitutionally and unnecessarily assailed by those 
resolutions. It is not my purpose, however, to speak now of the subject 
which the resolutions embrace. 

Mr. Bagby. I hope the resolution offered by me will be read also. 

Mr. Johnson. I have sent for it, sir, 

[The resolution was then read as follows : 

Eesolved, As the opinion of the Senate, that the resolution of the Legislature of New York> 
declaring " that if any territory is hereafter acquired by the United States, or annexed thereto, the 
act by which such territory is acquired or annexed, whatever such act may be, should contain an. 
unalterable fundamental article or provision, whereby slavery or involuntary servitude, except as 
a. punishment for crime, shall be forever excluded fi'om the territory acquired or annexed," is in 
derogation of the Constitution of the United States, and at war with the rights and interests of the 
States in which slavery exists.] 

Mr, Johnson proceeded. Nobody doubts that the Senator from Alabama 
not only speaks his own opinion, but the opinion of his constituents, on the 
subject of that resolution. Sir, I make bold to say, and I say it after some 
opportunities of knowing — that the voice of the North on this subject will 
be uniform and unalterable. It is useless to inquire into the constitutional 
question involved in it until it is forced upon us. If. is useless to examine 
what rights will be left to the South, if it is to be forced upon us, I mention 
the fact only that there is one universal opinion pervading all political 
sects; and I make bold to say, Mr, President, that no representative, who 
dares even fn accordance with his convictions, by any act of his, upon this 
floor or elsewhere, to go against that pervading sentiment of his constituents, 
will ever be permitted again to represent the people. It is a matter of feel- 
ing. It results from a settled and abiding conviction that slavery is wrong 
in the abstract as well as in reality. It grows out of a belief in the extent 
of human rights. It is a spirit of liberty, bavins: its birth and its liome in the 
heart, I am sure that I err not when I say, that if it has not already covered 
the whole North, the whirlwind of opinion is rushing on, and no man will 
'be permitted to stand who attempts to resist it. There is but one way to 
obviate it, and thank God ! that way is open to us, and that way leaves us 
as we are — a happy, united, and powerful people — it is by keeping the 
question out — by bringing no territory in ; and, in my judgment, it may 
be done consistently with the vindication of the national honor. What are 
the hundred or the hundreds of millions in which this war may involve us? 
No man will feel the pressure of it a moment. No man would know of 
its existence, unless he were told of -the fact. For what is additional ter- 
ritory wanted'? Have we not enough, not only for (he men of the present 
day, but for the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions, who 
may come into existence hereafter ? Have we not degrees of latitude 



13 

enough to furnish us with every thing which may minister to man's wants 
or comforts, as far as depends upon soil or climate ? The progress of the 
United States thus far announces that we have all this. No other people 
who have ever appeared on the theatre of the world, in the past or present 
time, can compare in any prosperity which they may have enjoyed or in 
any glory which they may have acquired, with (he prosperity which has 
been enjoyed or the glory w4iich has been acquired by the people of the 
United States, under their present Constitution and on their present terri- 
tory. Sir, the war in which we are engaged will be forgotten except in the 
splendor of its achievments. They, through all time, will tell the world 
what are the extent and ability of American valor. They will pro- 
clairr. in all time, that whenever and wherever and however associated, 
American courage and American skill, under the guidance of American 
wisdom, are equal to any emergency. But, sir, glories still greater, still 
more attractive in the eyes of all good men and genuine patriots, if we be 
true to ourselves await us. Who is there, looking through the vista of time, 
no matter how fruitful his imagination or sanguine his temperament can tell 
of the power and of the happiness which are sure to belong to those who 
are to succeed us if this Union lasts ? Sir, the South is in no danger, from 
whatever you may term the lowest prejudices of the North, or (he political 
fanaticism of the political demagogues of the North, if her people are true to 
themselves, and stand together as one man. Let the South maintain its 
fealty to the Constitution, and there need be no apprehension beneath its 
protecting aegis. But when a new question is brought into existence, and 
new States are to be added to the Union — when a territory equal in extent — 
as says the President of the United States — to (he whole thirteen original 
States of this Union, is about to become part of the United States by con- 
quest ^ then indeed a new and alarming element is cast upon the political 
waters, and even the most sanguine, if patriotic, cannot fail to tremble. In 
the name of all that we hold most sacred and dear, Mr. President, why is 
it that we are willing to hazard such an inheritance for such an acquisi- 
tion ? Sir, are we not satisfied with the present Constitution of the United 
States ? Have we not territory enough to answer all the reasonable wants 
of human society? Has not the Constitution given us all the blessings 
which man can derive under any conceivable form of government? Sir, 
the Constitudon was reared for immortality, if any work of man can aspire 
to such an existence? But it may, to use the words of another, " perish 
in an hour from forgetfulness, corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, 
the people !" What, is to be done ? I ask Southern men and Northern 
men, again disclaiming any intention to argue the question, till it is forced 
upon us, what is to be done if the crisis come ? The North is firm as the soil^ 
upon whichher freemen tread. The South is equally firm, endowed with in- 
domitable courage, andjully impressed with a conviction of her rights. What 
is to be the result ? One of two things — civil war, in all its inconceivable hor- 
rors, or disruption of the Union, and a violated Constitution. Mr. President, I 
beseech Senators to pause. I point them to the Union. Fair and unde- 
faced as when it came from the hands of its august founders, that fabric 
still stands in all its " stately height " and solemn grandeur. Are Senators 
indeed prepared .to behold its Doric pillars mingled with the dust ? Are 
they willing to see our glorious Union brokea into shattered and withered 
fragment of empire ? Are there amongst us any who esteem so lightly this 



14 



glorious mheritance of ours, that they can regard wiihoiu the utmost alarm 
even the possibility of such a fratricidal conflict as that of which I have spo- 
ken, in connexion with this distracting question— and all for what "i Be- 
cause Mexico being too poor, cannot pay what she owes except by a cession 
of territory which we will force from her at the point of the bayonet, or 
failing in that,wi 1 buy ot her. Mr. President, there are many consid- 
erations connected with this subject, of which I cannot now speak with- 
out trespassing unduly on the patience of the Senate. I have but a 
word to say in conclusion. I am sure the Senate and the public, as far 
as they have taken any interest in what my course in thie body, may 
have been vvill do me the justice to say, that by my votes as a Senator of 
the United States on this floor, I have given a cordial and a hearty support 
to the present Executive in the conduct of this war. I have done it at the 
sacrilice of differing in some particulars from Senators, to whose judgment 
lam in the habit of constantly deferring. I have consulted my own 
judgment alone, when, perhaps, I should have deferred to that of others. 
But my instincls were the other way, and I followed them. They 
taught me that the honor of my county was involved. I was resolved 
as far as in me lay to vindicate it. They taught me that the glory of ou r 
flag was about to be tarnished. I was resolved that, as far as in me lay, 
It should be mamtajned. And I here vote freely and liberally, and will 
continue to vote with equal freedom and equal liberality, for any and every 
measure which the President may recommend, if supported by any reasons 
which can satisfy me that the adoption of such measure will be necessary 
for the vigorous and successful prosecution of the war. I have known 
^nHv Inf r'^l"'""^ T!'^'^' ^ ^^'"^" consulted the interests of but one 
cournVv InH ?Ti ""^ •""' '"' P^rty-the interest and honor of my 
country. And if I know my own nature, I shall adhere to the snm^ 
party throughotit. But that same spirit' which conduced me in he 
withToi .t^h'^l^";' alluded and which caused my heart to leap 
with joy at the first tidings of the brilliant achievement of our armv 
would constrain me to blush for my country, if she persisted in ex' 
actions upon a feeble and impoverished foe, which the woHd wo Idlusdy 
anathemauze as rapine and plunder. We are great and powe fu and 
we can afford to be magnanimous. But our greatness and powe owe 
their being to our public virtue. A long an"d unexampled^ career of 
prospenty has been the result. Let that virt°ie fail us_weaken the moral 
sense of the nation-teach the fatal lesson that the propenrof others r^ay- 
be seized upon and confiscated-pander to the unbridle/lust for orSZ 

Jr;rt7";i;:se\;"h:T^"^''' j^'^^™^"^' ^^^ ^ ^P^'-^'^ '^ -^^^ entire deir 
^nceto those who differ from me-as surely as there is a God-whose 

thl.iT''^ pronounce with all reverence-who rewards virtue and pZ 
shes vice, so surely, sooner or later, His rebuke will descend upon i^s "n 
some overwhelming visitations of indignant wrath ' ^ 



W46 



-■^-0^ V 


















V^V "°^-^'^*/ V^^'s** %'^' 















"/ <^^ "^^^ •-''^1^.* '^'' '"<?' ^^^W* ^.^^^^ ^^F/ "^"^^ 




AO^ 







'oK 





.^^ . 











_/ .*'% ^%p-' /% ,._. , 
:^^\.-^%\^ ,c°^.i^;;,> /,^}^%^% 









^^0^ 




^oV 









"O.. ''•'.^•' aO' ''^►.'••-o'* .^'«' 



^^ ..Vi-. <3 






: ^^ 



■0 0°" ♦- o. 



■t^o^ 



'bV" 



^•1°^ 













.'i'-' * 










^^ 














.0^ ^^ *'T:t«" a 



^>^^^^ ^^jm^^. "-^^0^^ f^^^'; ^ov^' 






^*^°«. 

^ e 




*^ o 






\\F ♦ «? "^ • ^8B^ ♦ ^^y *^ 'o'' 




r. "^-^^O^ o 






.>*^ o 



'• ''bv* 



